European shares fell for the third day in a row on persistent uncertainty over when the United States may scale back economic stimulus measures, and carmaker Peugeot dropped more than 10 percent.
Several traders said that while they saw European stock markets making little headway before the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting next week, they did expect some recovery towards the end of 2013 and into 2014.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which fell 0.7 percent on Wednesday, declined by a further 0.74 percent to 1,246.98 points by 1202 GMT.
Data showing a surprise fall in euro zone October industrial output also put pressure on shares.
French carmaker Peugeot slumped more than 10 percent after news of a writedown and that it was considering a capital increase.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index has retreated about 5 percent after climbing to a 5-year high last month, although the index remains up by about 10 percent since the start of 2013.
The prospect that the Fed may start to taper its "quantitative easing" (QE) programme this month has led some investors to sell off equities to book profits on the rally so far this year.
Source: Reuters
